Lloyds sale to step up within next 12 months

The sale of Lloyds bank is moving up a gear, as the government have confirmed that they'll launch a share sale open to retail investors "in the next 12 months", and "further details will be set out in due course."

George Osborne has said in the past that he is going to make some Lloyds shares available to small investors at a discount to the price on the market, as part of the sell-off.

The Treasury will also extend their plan to flog shares in Lloyds to the end of the year, as the scheme was originally meant to end at the end of June. By extending the sale, this will all help the Chancellor to sell a further £9bn Lloyds shares.

The government's stake is now below 19%, as they've sold another 1% of shares in the bank, which we all bailed out in 2008 thanks to the worldwide banking crisis. The government originally owned a 41% stake, but they're getting rid of it, bit by bit after putting £20bn in.

Thus far, they've got back over £10.5bn.

George Osborne thinks that the whole thing has been a "huge success" and that, by extending the sale, it'll only fill the coffers further and help to reduce the national debt. We'll see, eh?